


Places

by beanside



Series: Places [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 03:10:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4374926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanside/pseuds/beanside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in Season 3.  Dean's running out of time before the deal comes due.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Places

It was a little over eight months since that night in the cemetery when Dean disappeared for the first time. It wasn't for very long, only a couple hours, but still, it was unnerving, Sam thought to look up from the laptop and realize that you were talking to yourself.

And really, fucking thanks for teaching him the stealth shit, Dad, Sam thought dryly.

They were in Kentucky, and he was looking up information about a possible Woman in White, when he glanced up and found himself staring at a piece of paper that simply said "Gone out. Be back in a bit."

The cell kicked to voice mail for a full hour and a half before Sam heard the rumble of the Impala. Dean grimaced as he slid out, and walked slow and awkward towards the room. "What happened?"

"Had something to do." Dean shrugged. He handed Sam the keys. "Be useful. Laundry's in the trunk."

Sam stared at him as he limped into the motel, shaking his head.

The second time was outside of Virginia Beach. They'd cleared a malevolent water sprite out of a nearby pool, and Sam had taken a shot to the crotch from the pissed off fairy.

Dean pointed out that it was the highest the fairy could reach, and laughed himself nearly hoarse,but he'd settled Sam in with ice and painkillers. Late afternoon, Sam had woken alone, the bed ringed in a thick circle of salt, and another note.

That time, Dean came back sunburned, and Sam had teased him about girls in thongs for days while he scratched at the peeling skin.

The third time, Dean was gone overnight.

They were in Nevada, so Sam wasn't really surprised. Didn't stop him from giving Dean hell when he got in. Time was ticking, slipping away, and Sam was still lost. There had to be a way to break the deal, but he couldn't find it. Dean didn't seem all that concerned, and it was driving him crazy.

It was the same fatalism that drove Sam to drag Dean to Reverend LaGrange two years ago. Dean seemed perfectly content to let the Crossroads Demon have him. Like he thought Sam could handle losing him. When Sam said as much, Dean smiled and walked away. "You did fine at Stanford," he said, like that was an answer. Like Sam hadn't known that Dean and Dad were a phone call away.

When they're in Florida, and Dean disappeared early one morning, Sam started to worry. He didn't leave a note, and there was barely a month left before-- Just before.

Dean came back in late, tired and happy. When Sam started to ream him, he locked the bathroom door and sleeps in the tub. "I just don't want to hear it," he said the next morning. "You're not my babysitter, Sam. There are things I need to do. Leave it at that."

The next night, Dean got backhanded by a hyperactive troll, and Sam sat up, keeping watch, waking him every few hours. Around three, desperate for something to keep him awake, he pulled out one of Dean's porno magazines. A handful of papers fluttered out, and Sam stooped to look at them.

The one nearest to his foot was an envelope that says simply "Sammy."

It's addressed to him, Sam reasoned, and opened it. The letter inside was written in Dean's tight scrawl, barely legible.

Hey, Sammy.  
Yeah, I know, it's Sam. So, I hate to pull a Dad, but I think he had the right idea. Easier to do it this way.

First up, take care of my baby. Oil change every three thousand miles, tune up every thirty. She's part of the family, y'know? Last car any of us ever rode in. Mom, Dad, and me.

Second, hunting. Quit. I know, you're all about fixing what the demon started, but dude. You've done enough. Go find a girl, settle down and make a new generation of Winchesters. Have one just like you. Just, y'know, duck and cover when he hits fourteen. Find the middle ground between normal and what you know about things that go bump in the night.

Do me a favor? I know you don't like her, but let Cassie know? She's the only non-hunter who ever gave a damn about me. Please.

Last...stop the emo angsting and staring pensively out rainy windows. I made a choice. I don't regret it.

Be happy.

Eyes stinging, Sam let the note flutter to the ground. Fuck.

How could Dean be like this? How could he just accept that he was going to die and go to hell? It was just...wrong. It was almost like he wanted to die, Sam thought.

Shaking it off, Sam looked at the other paper. It was a list. Five items, four of them checked off.

1\. Horseback Riding.  
2\. Mustang Ranch  
3\. ParaSail.  
4\. Swimming with Dolphins  
5\. Grand Canyon.

This time, he didn't quite hold back the sob. He'd always been so focused on his dreams, his normal that it never occurred to him that there were things Dean would have wanted to do.

Sam wasn't surprised that Dean took off when they're in Arizona. This time, though, Sam was ready. He and his stolen car caught up with Dean as the sun was rising over the west rim of the Grand Canyon.

Dean doesn't bother to look up, lounging against the back ot the Impala. "Figured it out, huh?"

"Yeah. Dean-"

"Don't," Dean said sharply. "Just don't. it's been eleven and a half months, Sammy. We're no closer than we were."

"I can't lose you. I won't."

Dean finally looked at him, calm and peaceful. "It was never your choice. I made a decision, and I'm okay with that. I've been on borrowed time for years. First the reaper, then Dad."

"Do you want to die?"

"Not really. But you know, if that's what it took to save you...It's worth it to me."

"It's not to me. I can't do this alone."

The ghost of a smile touched Dean's lips. "Sounds familiar."

Sam choked on the memory, of Jess...of safety. Of the illusions Dean and Dad had let him have. That was over now. "It can't have you. Dammit, you're mine. That's what you told me. 'You'll always have me, Sammy-boy.' You were mine first."

Dean stared at the ground, arms wrapped on himself. "It doesn't work that way, Sam."

"Yes. Actually, it does," a slick voice purred from behind them.

Dean spun. "I still have two weeks," he said mildly.

The demon strolled between them, eyeing Sam darkly.

"The deal wasn't valid," Sam said slowly. "Because you'd already made a deal. To me. We made a blood oath."

"I was nine!" Dean pointed out.

"It counts," the demon growled. "You can't sell a soul that doesn't belong to you."

Dean was slient, eyeing the demon with undisguised loathing.

"All he has to do is say the words, release you from your deal," she said. "And then, it can go on as it would have."

"Sam?"

"No." Sam stepped closer to her. "He's mine. Never yours."

A tiny smile touched Dean's lips.

The demon stepped between them glaring at Sam. "Do you want to die? Just say the words, Sam. I'll even give you an extra year with him for your trouble." The demon slid closer to Sam, laying her cold fingers on his cheek. "Go ahead, Sammy."

"No."

She leaned in, close enough that he could smell sulfur. "You think you're saving him, but you're not. Without you, he'll eat a bullet in under a year. It's kinder, really."

"Fuck no."

"Three years," She murmured. "You can have him for three years. That's my final offer, Sam. Do you really think either of you would've survived past that anyway?"

"You know what I think?"

"I'm all aflutter to know," it drawled.

"You wouldn't offer shit if you could renig that easily. You can't, because he made the deal in good faith, and he didn't try to get out of it. He didn't tell me that there was an out. So you can't do jack or shit to either of us."

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked back at Dean. "You bastard," she growled.

He didn't bother to hide his smirk. "Gotcha. Sammy?"

"Exorciso te-"

The black smoke poured out the the demon's host, preparing to depart. Until it came up against the wall of the Devil's Trap Dean had sketched into the dusty soil after parking. "Do I look like a rookie, you stupid bitch?"

Sam finished the exorcism, watching the black smoke evaporate, and finally relaxed.

"Nice job, Sammy," Dean grinned.

"You knew?"

"Wasn't sure it would count, but yeah, I remembered the pact we'd made," Dean shrugged.

"And if it hadn't?"

"I'd have died," Dean said.

"That doesn't bother you?"

"I wouldn't have made the damn deal if it did."

"Dean-"

"Can we not? Deal's gone, there are evil things to kill, and I'm starving. Let's eat."

Sam followed Dean to the Impala, shaking his head. One day, they were going to talk about this. But for now, maybe Dean was right. Maybe it was enough that they both were going to live to fight another day.


End file.
